Benjamin coplin seaton



A Mv n (No Model.) I

BUTT-MON. l' SAFETY ATTACHMENT Ton GARS. NO- 456,126. 1 Mentef1- July14,1891.,

d ed Eff-1' Zr'eveazwcf BENJAMN COPLIN SEATON, OE NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE,ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO A. IV. SOUTHIVORTH, OF SAME PLACE.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 456,126, dated July 14,1891.

i Application filed April l1, 1891. Serial No. 388.562. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN CoPLrN SEA- TON, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, residing atNashville,in the county of Davidson andState of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSafety Attachments for Cars, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention has relation to certain improvements in safety attachmentsfor cars, more particularly freight-cars, either box or flat, having forits object to prevent liability of the brakeman falling between the carsand being hurt or killed in event of slipping or missing his footing inpassing or running along the top of the cars, and yet it is adapted toiiex or fold as the cars jam together and automatically assume itsoriginal or normal position as the cars separate; and to these ends thenature of the invention consists in the novel combination andarrangement of parts, all substantially as hereinafter more fully setforth, and pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure l is a broken plan view of a car with my safetyattachment applied thereto. Fig. 2is a cross-sectional view showing twocars with an attachment applied to each car and the attachment in aflexed or folded position, the cars being jammed together; and Fig. 3 isan enlarged detached perspective View of the attachment.v

In the embodiment of my invention I pivotally support upon each end ofthe car, close to the top, a supplemental platform or guard A. Thisguard consists of two side pieces or bars having their inner endsconnected or pivoted to the sides of the cars by means of the bolt,lugs, or screws b, and between these side pieces or bars a are held orsecuredthe longitudinal pieces or rods c, forming the bottom of theplatform or` guard. To the side pieces or bars d, near or at their outerends, are pivotally connected or attached the lower ends of the obliquesuspending metal straps d, the connection being effected, it may be, bythe passage of the ends of the outer one of the rods c therethrough andswaging or upsetting said ends, forming iianges or heads thereon toprevent lateral displacement of said suspending-straps.

The suspending-straps d pass through and are adapted to slide ineyebolts e, secured 1n the sides of the car, and have at their upperends stops or hooks d', adapted normally to engage the eyes of saideyebolts and retain or suspend the guard or platform A in an inclinedposition, the inclination being upward and outward to permit, as thecars come or jam together, opposite platforms or guards, which bridgethe intervening space between the cars to flex or fold toward the cars,to allow the platforms or guards to automatically assume their originalor normal position. Thus it will be seen that should the brakeman inrunning or passing along the tops of the cars attempt to jump from onecar to another or otherwise miss or lose his footing or hold, his fallwould be intercepted by the platforms or guards, preventing his beingprecipitated or falling below and being hurt or killed.

This invention, it will therefore be seen, serves as a safeguard againstthe possible loss of life or a limb or limbs of a train-man, which wouldinvolve the railroad company, resulting alike disastrously to bothemploy and employer, which this my invention avoids.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isw

The combination, with a car, of a safety at- BENJAMIN COPLIN SEATON.

Witnesses: 4

W. M. DoUGLAss, A. Roenes.

